"home"

Danielle's gone. Well, "gone" being a very loose term. She left the dorm; she's technically a college graduate and is moving on to med school.

The worst part of her leaving was the solidification of the cold, hard fact that we're leaving. In two stress-filled days, this school year is over, and I'm so busy that I won't have time to stand back and think of all the memories. All the dancing that took place here. How each room had its designated television shows, and how you could make anyone's bed your own. The meals we shared on our little folding card table. Watching the dishes of one person pile up, and knowing that meant they were doing serious work. Playing Wii in Danielle's room. Game nights. Learning the sound of how each of us walked up the stairs; waving and calling out to that person before they got up the stairs. The singing. Our infamous Halloween party. Danielle's mom's brownies. Natalie's mom's leftover chocolate. The prominent color schemes in our rooms. Spending hours upon hours, into the early morning, just talking. Video chatting with Alex. Our slippers. The delicious smell of food coming from the second floor. DeWarren singing/beatboxing whenever he walked in the house. The familiar click of the card reader and the sound of the door opening, and the slamming. The equally familiar sound of Velcro being pulled apart - taking the marker off it's magnet. Danielle's palm tree. Melissa's futon. My endless number of photos on the wall. Natalie's boyfriend pillow. Bambi.

Friday will be bittersweet. I'm the last one out, and am literally the only one around. In past years, I've had a few people around until the end. Now it'll just be me; I'll be the only one to witness the utter emptiness of this house. I'll be the one to pull down the shoe collage, double-check that the fridge is empty, clean the toilet one last time. I really don't want to leave.